The Huawei Watch was one of the most anticipated devices of the year. It was first unveiled about eight months ago in the MWC and everyone was stunned with its external design and build quality. There was a 6-month wait on its release at the IFA conference in Berlin, Germany, which had some people worried that the fierce competition in this segment could displace it among the most powerful smartwatches. Thankfully, that doesn’t seem to be the case, and now it is finally available in the UK from several retailers like Selfridges, the Google Store or vMall. The base model with a silver finish and a leather band starts at £289, while those with metal bands like a mesh strap or stainless steel links will cost around £329 and £369, and finally, there’s also a rose gold model which costs around £599. The watch is no cheap by any means, but this is one of the better looking Android Wear smartwatches, so you might consider it if you’re looking for something smart to wear on your wrist.
The design of the watch is a reflection of a new direction for the Chinese manufacturer, and that certainly has led them to be one of the most successful manufacturers, not only in China, but now around the world, too. The watch case is made of 316L stainless steel and the screen is completely round, plus it is covered with sapphire crystal. The display is made with AMOLED technology and it measures 1.4 inches, it is also among the highest resolution displays at 400 x 400 pixels. There’s only one physical button at the two o’ clock position that adds to that classic and timeless look.
Powering up the device is the Snapdragon 400 processor clocked at 1.2 GHz and there are 512 MB of RAM available. Its internal storage is 4 GB and it has many sensors including a heart-rate monitor, gyroscope and accelerometer. Unfortunately, there’s no NFC technology or a GPS sensor in this watch, but Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity is present. The company promises 1.5 days out of the 300 mAh battery and it can be recharged with a magnetic charging cradle. It runs Android Wear and the watch is compatible with Android 4.3 or later versions and iOS devices running iOS 8.2 or a more recent version.